KeeperFX keeps Dungeon Keeper alive by making it actually playable

In an interview about The Making of Karateka, an exquisite interactive documentary and game-about-a-game, Chris Kohler of Digital Eclipse notes that, based mostly on the corporate’s information, individuals do not truly play the video games inside “classics” collections. Perhaps they spend 5 minutes inside a number of video games they bear in mind, however that is about it. Presenting traditional video games, precisely as they have been once they arrived, could be traditionally vital however typically falls wanting actual engagement.

That is why it is a thrill to see (as first noticed by PC Gamer) a triumphant 1.0 launch from KeeperFX, an open supply “remake and fan enlargement” of Dungeon Keeper, the 1997 Bullfrog technique recreation that had gamers tackle the opposite facet of a dungeon crawl. The undertaking had already, over 15 years, carried the sport fairly far, giving it fashionable Home windows help, hi-res help, and a great deal of bugfixes and quality-of-life enhancements. Now, says the workforce, all the unique code from the unique executable has been rewritten, releasing them as much as change no matter they need sooner or later. There could be greater than 2,048 “issues” on the map, maps can have greater than 85 sq. tiles, and scripting and mods can go a lot additional.

However take notice: “Possession of the unique recreation remains to be and can all the time be required for copyright causes.” You’ll be able to, like I did earlier right this moment, rectify that with a $6 GOG buy, at the very least whereas it is on sale right this moment. After downloading KeeperFX, you unpack it, run its launcher, level it to the place you have put in the unique Dungeon Keeper, and launch it. And then you definitely get able to click on.

I distinctly bear in mind making an attempt to play Dungeon Keeper a number of years in the past after studying one retrospective or one other about the way it was, like many titles from Bullfrog and recreation designer Peter Molyneux, vastly influential on so many video games. I gave Dungeon Keeper greater than 5 minutes, however clicking again and again on sprites that seemed like graphical errors (whereas listening to audio samples from the Sound Blaster heyday) grew outdated earlier than an hour was out. Computer systems had modified, I had modified, and I now not felt like beating my head towards a closely pixelated wall.

Loading up KeeperFX felt as a substitute like I used to be enjoying an homage to Dungeon Keeper in the very best sense. I guessed about half the sport’s shortcuts, might simply configure the remainder, and wasn’t shocked by how any button or keyboard click on responded. The artwork fashion was the identical, however on a 4K monitor, the sport wasn’t painful to take a look at, and it ran at a tempo that did not really feel like a retro race automotive. The first marketing campaign and its tutorials are nonetheless a bit opaque, however the recreation feels smoothed out. The discharge notes for 1.0 and prior variations counsel a number of little tweaks to each enemy and drone habits and maybe some extra honest habits by the pc opponents. Nothing is spelled out, however not like my first foray, studying as I’m going does not really feel fairly so cumbersome.

I solely supposed to play one map of KeeperFX for the needs of this submit, however I ended up enjoying … a number of greater than that. Every degree within the main marketing campaign introduces a brand new mechanic, some new voiceovers, and a non-patronizing improve in issue. That is along with the little jolts of nostalgia for that late-90s Bullfrog mixture of darkish humor, deep programs, and deeply rewarding technique challenges.

Present IP holder Digital Arts hasn’t finished a lot with Dungeon Keeper, apart from rework it right into a micro-transaction sinkhole so dangerous that regulators demanded it cease calling itself “free to play.” Molyneux stated again in 2008 that, whereas he’d love an opportunity to take one other crack at Syndicate, Populous, or maybe Dungeon Keeper, he would not maintain his breath ready for EA to name. “I’ve acquired no qualms of someone else doing it,” Molyneux instructed VideoGamer.com. “I would just like to see it up to date, the idea stored alive.”

KeeperFX, and tasks prefer it, are conserving foundational outdated video games alive past merely shoving their code awkwardly ahead into our period. It deserves reward, perhaps a couple of bucks, and as few roadblocks as potential to doing so.

Itemizing picture by KeeperFX